Marble game



F. H. KING i 2.199.407

MARBLE emu May Z 1940.

Filed Oct. 10, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. H. KING MARBLE (mu;

May 7, 1940.-

Filed Oct. 10, 1938 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 FREDEBIMWFWNG F (Ittorneg Patented May 7, 1940 UNITED STATES MARBLE GAME Frederick H. King, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 10,

10 Claims.

This invention relates to marble games and particularly to improvements in such games as are disclosed by my Patents 2,097,670 of November 2, 1937 and 2,128,486 of August 30, 1938.

An object of the invention is to provide a pen or enclosure for marbles, comprising a set of sheet metal plates adapted to be readily assembled or disassembled, one thereof being. apertured to form marble passages, and the enclosure having improved provisions for maintaining its assembly form and for securing it in a desired position of use.

Another object is to so form the back plate of said enclosure that it will impose little if any rebound on marbles striking such plate and will not limit the freedom of action of a marble-project.- ing target mounted on such plate.

A further object is to provide an improved type of marble-projecting target for use in a marble game.

These and various other objects are attained by the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawingawhereinz Fig. l is a perspective view of :the improved game.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the game showing how it may be anchored to the ground.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the separable interfitting relation of the plates forming the marble enclosure.

Fig. i is a perspective view of a-marble deflector whereof a pair are. attached to the front portion of the enclosure.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the marblethrowing target and the enclosure wall carrying same.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing position of the target.

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view of the target taken on the line 1-? of Fig. 5.

In these views, the reference character l designates a horizontally elongated target plate supported in an upright position bya pair of plates 2 rearwardly extending from its end portions, and interconnected at their rear ends by a plate 3. The plates l, 2 and 3 form a substantially rectangular enclosure into which marbles may be propelled through a set of arched openings 4, 5, and 6, formed in the target plate and rising from its lower margin. Said plates are preferably formed of sheet metal, their interconnection being such as to afford a ready assembly and disassembly to facilitate packaging, shipment, and storage of the game. Thus the plates I and 3 have their end portions upwardly slotted as inthe throwing 1938, Serial No. 234,083 (01. 273-127) dicated at l, and the plates 2 have slots 8 down wardly extended in their end portions, the several plates thereby interfitting as is clearlyevident.

Adjacent to and preferably above each opening,-a score number is marked on the front of the target plate, the scoring value of the central opening being, as illustrated, i0 and that of the other two openings 5. Y

The lower margins of the plates 2 are flanged toward each other, as indicated at 9, for reinforcing purposes and to provide an adequate, noncutting supporting surface for the enclosure. The plate l is similarly reinforced by a flange Hi, seating on the flanges 9 when the game is assembled.

Diagonally interconnecting the front edges of the plates 2 and the outer edges of the target.

plate openings 4 and 6 is a pair of sheet metal marble'deflectors ll, their ends being bent to the hooked form indicated at l2 to embrace the engaged edges of the plates 1 and 2 andsecurely hold said deflectors in place. Since the deflectors engage the plate I just above its base flange Ill,"

they resist disassembly of the plates I and 2; The

deflectors have sufficient spring'to allow themto snap into engagement with the plate l'after being properly engaged with the plates 2. 1

Disassembly of the plate 3 from the plates 2 is yieldably resisted by forming the upper margin of the former plate with a slight forward curvature and by forming a notch l3 in the front edge of each rear slot 8, as best appears in Fig. 2, said curved margin of the plate 3 springing into the.

notches l3, upon assembly, and resisting withdrawal of the plate 3;

Preferably the flanges -9 project rearwardly slightly beyound the plates 2, thus forming tongues which may be inserted beneath the baseboard of a Wall (not shown), so as to hold the enclosure in a desired proximity to such wall.

The rear wall 3 has its lower portion bent rearwardly at a gradual downward inclination as indicated at M to form a marble stop; and the rear marginal portion 15 of such stop is preferably bent vertically downward, between the plates 2,

]to seat on the flanges 9. Since the slots '1 of; the plate 3 are formed in its bent lower portion, l4, IS the ends of said portion at outer sides of the plates .2 form tongues l6 whichmay'be bent if desired to project vertically downward beyond the plates 2. Thus when the game is used outdoors, the tongues l6 ends may be thrustintothe ground, as shown in Fig. 2, to anchor the enclosure in a desired definite location. For indoor use of the game, however, the tongues it conform .to the incline of the portion l4 of the wall 3, as appears in Fig. 3. The marble stop l4 may be formed with corrugations extending between the walls 2, as in Fig. 5 or it may have a sheet of rubber secured to its impact of face, as appears in Fig. 6.

Rearwardly registered with the openings 4, 5 and 6 are notches IT in the upper edge of the plate 3 and slits l8 similarly spaced downwardly from said notches for engagement by a marblethrowing target member, and it is further preferred to form said plate with an opening I!) beneath each slit I 8 to afford the target member full freedom of action, as will presently appear, in exercising its marble-throwing function.

The target member consists of a supporting bracket and a pivotal holder and thrower for a scoring or king marble 20. Said bracket comprises an arched spring clip 2i adapted to straddie the wall 3, the front leg of such clip having a lower detent portion 22 rearwardly bent and thus adapted to engage in the slit it; below a notch I! receiving the clip. When the clip has been slipped downwardly on the wall 3 sufficiently to register its detent portion with a slit 18, said portion snaps into such slit. The lower end portion of the rear leg of the clip is rearwardly bent to form a finger-piece 23 facilitating removal of the target member, when desired. Integral with and forwardly extending from the clip is a pair of spaced arms 24, upon and between which is pivoted a marble thrower comprising an approximately U-shaped member 25 normally disposed between the arms 24 and providing a seat for the marble 20, and a spring trip arm 26 formed integrally with the member 25, and normally extending downwardly from such member,

. at its front end. The pivot member for the element 25, 26 consists of a length of wire 21 having its ends journaled in the forward portions of the arms 24, such wire being offset downwardly in a U form between the arms, as best appears in Fig. 7, and extended freely through an opening formed in said element between its parts 25 and 26. This opening results from forming said element with two short, spaced parallel slits, and offsetting the metal between such slits oppositely from that at the outer sides of the slits. The rear end portion of the member 25 normally seats freely on the clip 2|, as is seen in Fig. 5, and said member is formed with a slight arch or hump 28 at its clip-engaging portion which assists materially in forwardly directing the king marble when the trip arm is actuated. The corners formed by the intersection of the front and lower edgesof the arms 24 are bent slightly outward, as best appears in Fig. 7, to assure clearance thereof from the marble thrower as the latter pivots.

In use of the described game, the players shoot or roll marbles at the target from some selected position, and delivery of a marble through an opening 4, 5, or 6 scores for the player according to the number marked adjacent to such opening on the target plate. If a marble so delivered further encounters the trip arm 26 and thereby dislodges the king marble, the score is doubled. If the dislodged marble rolls forwardly through one of the openings 4, 5, or 6, the score is further increased by the score number of such opening.

The deflectors ll increase the likelihood of a played marble entering the enclosure. In case the players prefer a more difficult game, they may readily remove the deflectors.

It is desired to retain in the enclosure all marbles delivered through the openings of the target plate and failing to encounter the trip arm 26.

Formation of the rear wall 3 with the inclined lower portion 8 4 contributes materially to the desired result since said portion I 4 very largely reduces the rebound of marbles encountering said rear wall and hence reduces the likelihood of their escaping through the target plate openings.

The described pivotal mounting of the marble thrower increases the freedom. of response of the thrower to impact of a played marble and the openings 59 in the plate 3 effect a further such increase, as is apparent from Fig. 6. It is desirable to afford the marble thrower a vigorous response to impact on the trip arm since interest may be added to the gameby adding an arbitrary number to the score in case the king marble is thrown forward a certain distance.

The invention is presented as including all such modifications and changes as come within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is: v

1. In a marble game, an enclosure for marbles, comprising two separably connected upright plates, one downwardly slotted from its upper edge and the other upwardly slotted from: its lower edge, to adapt such plates to interfit, the downwardly extending slot having a notch in its upper portion for receiving the upper edge of the plate engaged in such notch, whereby disassembly is resisted.

2. A marble game as set forth in claim 1, the upwardly slotted plate having its upper margin curved toward the notched edge of the other plate, whereby such margin is sprung into the notch, when the plates are assembled.

3. In a marble game, an enclosure comprising a front plate apertured to admit marbles, a rear plate, and a pair of side plates formed with front and rear pairs of slots downwardly extending from their upper edges to accommodate portions of the front and rear plates, corresponding edges of one of said pairs of slots being notched in proximity to the upper ends of such edges for engagement by the upper edge of the plate received in such slots, whereby disassembly is resisted.

4. In a marble game, an upright target plate having an opening interrupting its lower edge, through which opening marbles may be propelled, a supporting plate detachably connected to an end portion of the target plate and supporting the latter, and a marble-deflector extending from the supporting plate to an edge of said opening and resisting disassembly of the two plates.

5. A marble game as set forth in claim 4, said deflector having ends hooked to respectively engage an end of the supporting plate and said edge of the opening.

6. In a marble game, an upright target plate formed with a passage for marbles, a pair of upright side plates rearwardly extending from the end portions of the target plate, and an upright plate connecting the rear portions of the said plates, all of said plates jointly forming an enclosure for marbles, and the rear plate having its lower portion bent rearwardly at a downward inclination to counteract the rebound of marbles.

7. A marble game as set forth in claim 6, said rearwardly bent portion being corrugated from end to end thereof to promote wedging of marbles beneath such portion.

8. In a marble game as set forth in claim 6, a

yieldable pad applied to the under face of said rearwardly bent portion to promote wedging of marbles beneath such portion.

9. A marble game as set forth in claim 6, the

rearwardly bent portion of v the rear plate being upwardly slitted from its lower edge to accommodate portions of the side plates, and tongues being formed on the ends of the rear plate by such slits, such tongues being bendable to project downwardly from the enclosure for penetrating a surface seating the enclosure.

10. In a marble game, an upright target plateformed with a passage for marbles, a pair of upright side plates rearwai'dly extending from the end portions of the target plate, and a substantially upright plate connecting the rear portions of the side plates, all of said plates jointly forming an enclosure for marbles propelled through said passage, the rear plate being upwardly slitted from its lower edge to accommodate portions of the side plates, and tongues being formed by said slits on the end portions of the rear plate in exterior proximity to the side plates, such tongues being normally inclined at an acute angle to andlocated above the bottom plane of the enclosure and being bendable to project below such plane, for penetrating a surface seating the en'- closure.

FREDERICK H. KING. 

